Houthis launched missile strike on oil tanker, heading from Russia, in Red Sea
The Houthis attacked a tanker heading from Russia (photo: wikimedia.org)
The Houthis attacked Panamanian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea, which was carrying crude oil to India, according to Reuters.
It is reported that a missile, launched from Yemen, hit the tanker Pollux on the port side. The vessel was attacked 72 nautical miles (133 km) northwest of the port of Mocha off the coast of Yemen.
According to LSEG, the tanker Pollux departed from the Russian Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk on January 24 and was scheduled to be unloaded in Paradip, India, on February 28. The vessel is owned by Oceanfront Maritime Co, SA.
The Indian oil company has a 300,000 barrels per day oil refinery in Paradip, in the eastern state of Odisha. After the strike, Houthi rebels in Yemen stated that they would continue to attack ships in the Red Sea in solidarity with Hamas militants.
What preceded this
Earlier, it was reported that Yemeni Houthi rebels fired rockets at the Marlin Luanda tanker belonging to the Trafigura Group on the evening of January 26. The strike occurred approximately 55 miles southeast of the city of Aden. A fire broke out on board the vessel.
Later, it became known that the tanker was carrying Russian petroleum products for the production of gasoline and plastics. The cargo was loaded onto the ship in Greece, indicating a violation of EU and U.S. sanctions on the export of Russian petroleum products by the carrier.
This was the second time the Houthis targeted a tanker carrying Russian oil, with the first attack occurring on January 12. It is reported that the rocket launch was carried out 90 nautical miles southeast of the Yemeni port city of Aden. The vessel was selected as a target, presumably based on outdated publicly available information. Previously, the tanker was owned by a British company.
